Dutch Red Bull KTM Ajo rider places fourth on the starting grid in Malaysia. Niccolo Antonelli will take off from tenth.

In a dry Moto3 qualifying session in Sepang, the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders were able to take places on the starting grid that will allow them to fight for the podium on raceday, without having to make big comebacks. Bo Bendsneyder claimed the best result, and will start from the head of the second row in fourth place. Just two rows behind will be Niccolo Antonelli in tenth.

The 40 minute FP3 session was of little use to the lower cylinder class riders because of mixed conditions. Although the surface gradually dried, there were no laps to match those set on a completely dry asphalt. Bendsneyder finished nineteenth -2:17.563- and Antonelli twenty-first -2:17.768.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders saved their best for qualifying. Now with a much more favourable surface on which to ride, Bendsneyder and Antonelli were consistently fast and up amongst the top 15, although it would not be until the chequered flag had fallen that they set their quickest times: Bendsneyder’s a spectacular 2:13.161 and Antonelli a 2:13.419.

Tomorrow sees the penultimate Moto3 race of the season take place at 12:00pm local time -5:00am CET. In the five Moto3 races at Malaysia, Red Bull KTM Ajo have always managed to get at least one rider on the podium and have 3 wins.

Results (Qualifying session)
1. Joan Mir (Honda) 2:12.078
2. Jorge Martin (Honda) 2:12.457 +0.379
3. John McPhee (Honda) 2:12.816 +0.738
4. Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:13.161 +1.083
5. Gabriel Rodrigo (KTM) 2:13.165 +1.087
10. Niccolo Antonelli (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:13.419 +1.341

23 NICCOLO ANTONELLI
“Today’s penultimate qualifying session of the year didn’t go perfectly. Yesterday we made some changes to the setup of the bike with QP in mind, and they didn’t worked as well as we had expected. Tomorrow we will fine tune some details. However, we have a good position for tomorrow’s race, although we must improve if we want to be up with the front group throughout the race. We will go all out.”

64 BO BENDSNEYDER
“Qualifying here in Sepang went very well. After some QPs that had not gone as we expected, we achieved a good result and the whole team are satisfied with this fourth position. On the last stint I changed a small aspect of my riding and it brought results. I am happy about Saturday, but now we have to focus on being prepared to give a good fight tomorrow. I’m going to fight hard, I’m looking forward to the race.”